Winter maintenance agencies are continually searching for the perfect plow blade: durable, long-wearing, cost-effective, and effective in a range of conditions. Stainless steel and carbide-insert blades are staples of most DOTs’ fleets, and agencies test new products each year, like flexible blade assemblies designed to conform to the roadway surface.
Related research topics:
Clear Roads Resources
- Optimizing Tow Plow and Wing Plow Deployment: Clear Roads Best Practices Guide
- Clear Roads Plowing Efficiency Decision Support Tool (.xls) and User’s Guide (137MB .ppt)
Specifications
A sampling of specifications for plows and plow blades.
Product Experiences
Every year, Clear Roads member states share the results of pilot-testing of winter maintenance products and materials that their agencies have conducted.
View product experiences for blades and plows for 2006-2021. Products reviewed include:
- Built Blades
- Evolution Edges blades
- Henderson reversible snowplow and air foils
- Ironhawk blades
- JOMA blades
- Kuper blades
- Monroe flex plow with trip edge
- Multiple-edge plows
- Nordik Move cutting edges
- PolarFlex blades by Valley Blades
- Power float valves by Cirus (now CPS)
- Tow Plow by Viking-Cives
- Winter Equipment blades
Other Research and Resources
- Investigate Plow Blade Optimization: Researchers investigated the cost-effectiveness of different types of plow blades. (Ohio DOT, 2015)
- Performance Evaluation of Snow and Ice Plows: A research project that evaluated common snowplow brands on performance indicators such as blade types, scraping forces and shock acceleration, among other suggested parameters. (Illinois DOT, 2015)
- Joma Snowplow Blade Life Span: A Survey of State Experience: A research synthesis on the use and performance of Joma blades. (Minnesota DOT, 2014)
- Tow Plow: Resources compiled by the AASHTO Innovation Initiative. (2012)
- Snow Plow Cutting Edges for Improved Plowing Performance, Reduced Blade Wear, and Reduced Surface Impacts: A research synthesis on snowplow cutting edge research. (Minnesota DOT, 2011)
- Evaluation of Viking-Cives Midwest, Inc. TowPLow (North Dakota DOT, 2011)
- Multiple Blade Plow Prototypes: Clear Roads initiated and funded the development of innovative prototype snowplows capable of tackling a range of winter road conditions with the use of multiple blades. (2010)
- Joma Plow Blade Evaluation: A report summarizing information gathered on Joma blades. (Ohio DOT, 2010)
- Measurement of Ice Scraping Forces on Snowplow Underbody Blades: In this study, several new cutting edges were tested in a series of closed road tests. The study also included measurement of ice scraping forces by in-service trucks. (Iowa DOT, 1997)
Videos
Videos from Clear Roads’ Multiple Blade Plow Prototype project.
| Indiana DOT Prototype | Iowa DOT Prototype |
| Iowa DOT – Road Cleared Before and After | Iowa DOT – Slush Blade Removing Water |